Metrolink (Los Angeles) outage in December 2023

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The Union Station closing is going to give Amtrak several costs.
1. Big one is the busing of passengers to / from connecting stations to LAUS.
2. Obvious delays causing crew problems and extra expense.
3. Qualifying all crews on the detour route(s).
5. Can Amtrak move equipment into the Santa Fe yard? If not real problems for LD trains.
 
daybeers said:
This is a huge mess. Imagine if something similar happened in the NYC area. LA is #2 in population...
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It happened in the wake of Sandy when all approaches to Penn Station were damaged/flooded, and before that immediately following 9/11. it was also a royal mess. But everyone survived.

In other major cities of the world, major stations like Waterloo in London or Howrah in Kolkata have been shut down for a day or two to change out interlocking/control systems. And everyone survived. Inconvenient as long as it lasted, but the improvement following the closure was quite worth it.
 
I'm looking into making a "rare mileage" run on the Pacific Surfliner that week...round trip sufficient to travel the bypass. Looks like lunch in Fullerton.
I have traveled the north part of the East Bank line during my years of daily commuting on Metrolink. The southern part will be new.
Only coach is offered...business class is "sold out", aka not available.
 
I’m now seeing the Southwest Chief showing “sold out” west of Riverside, the Coast Starlight south of Simi Valley, and the Sunset Limited west of Ontario on the closure dates. Makes me wonder if they’re planning on originating/terminating those there and busing to/from those stations during the closure. If so, that will be an early wake up for the Chief and especially the Eagle - was considering taking the Chief then but definitely not with a 6am wake up to board buses.
 
thully said:
I’m now seeing the Southwest Chief showing “sold out” west of Riverside, the Coast Starlight south of Simi Valley, and the Sunset Limited west of Ontario on the closure dates. Makes me wonder if they’re planning on originating/terminating those there and busing to/from those stations during the closure. If so, that will be an early wake up for the Chief and especially the Eagle - was considering taking the Chief then but definitely not with a 6am wake up to board buses.
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I would have thought they run the startlight to Glendale given thats where all the LAU shuttle buses are running to for Surfliners going north
 
GDRRiley said:
I would have thought they run the startlight to Glendale given thats where all the LAU shuttle buses are running to for Surfliners going north
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Yeah, that would make more sense (as would Fullerton on the Chief/Pomona on the Sunset), though perhaps they can’t have the train originate/terminate there as easily.
 
Boggles me that they don’t notify ticketed passengers. I have to see if there is a more direct transit home for us from Simi, vs taking their bus option to Union station — which does us no good anyhow, because the Metro won’t be running to take us home from Union station
 
TinCan782 said:
"Will LA Metro buses, subway and rail still be operating?"
"Yes, LA Metro buses, subway and rail will be operating during this time."
https://metrolinktrains.com/schedules/no-service/
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I live in a semi rural area with limited transit options between Simi and home as well as between Union Station and home. Personal car, expensive shuttle service and Metrolink are actually the only options for us (there might be bus service, but I’m not interested in that option, especially since it would be at night). We definitely don’t have any form of subway. On our travel date and the day after, the Metrolink trains won’t be available due to the closure — and that is how we get to and from Union station.
 
ecetera said:
I live in a semi rural area with limited transit options between Simi and home as well as between Union Station and home. Personal car, expensive shuttle service and Metrolink are actually the only options for us (there might be bus service, but I’m not interested in that option, especially since it would be at night). We definitely don’t have any form of subway. On our travel date and the day after, the Metrolink trains won’t be available due to the closure — and that is how we get to and from Union station.
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Amtrak pacific surfliner will be running but not stopping at LAU instead it will be a shuttle bus from Glendale to LAU. Theres 5 trains into LA from Simi and 5 trains and one bus from LA.

The local bus option wouldn't be fun even if you wanted to take it, Simi Valley route 10 to LA metro G then B talking 2 hours and change.
 
We need to get to the high desert— with all Metrolink service down for the dates we are traveling, it’s getting too complicated to bother with unfortunately. I will call tomorrow and see if they will change our ticket to after the work is complete with no or minimal $, or we will just cancel the tickets and drive, or rebook for a different trip later in the spring. It was supposed to be a fun and relaxing way to visit the kids, but it’s turning into a headache. We are fairly flexible with dates, but we do have to be able to get all the way home without jumping thru ten hoops and lots of extra $$
 
TinCan782 said:
OK, now I understand your situation.
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Yeah, it’s a hassle and a half sometimes. Now that my husband is semi-retired and the kids are on their own, we can take advantage of the Metrolink and easy access to Union Station to travel a bit. This was to be our first trip utilizing the access (vs my DH dropping me at the Van Nuys station when I traveled solo on Amtrak). He wants to drive now 😩 but I’m hoping to just shift the return back a few days, problem solved.
 
We ended up rolling our fare into the trip we are doing next September, and will drive for our Christmas trip, and skip the whole Metrolink track closure issue. Third person I spoke to at Amtrak was great — super helpful and friendly, but also completely unaware of the closure over the holiday until I told him. Unlike the other two reps, this guy GOT IT — he immediately grasped that once those days hit, he was going to be dealing with a lot of frustrated passengers. The first two were all in on “everything is going as normal” by virtue of them not having gotten an email. Third guy was smart enough to realize not getting an email YET, didn’t mean there wasn’t an issue. He also took the time to look at the metrolink announcement or something, so that he could see the particulars and potential problems for LA area residents (he obviously lives here, or did at some point). So, happily we are set, and now I just have to watch for price drops for our September trip since current pricing is higher than I want to pay.
 
Has anyone gone to the south present dead end of the platform tracks and observed what kind of new signal heads have been installed? That will give us an idea of preplanning of the eventual building of the thru tracks. If new heads all bulb locations at present should have red lens to prevent any possible false clear indications !!
 
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west point said:
Has anyone gone to the south present dead end of the platform tracks and observed what kind of new signal heads have been installed? That will give us an idea of preplanning of the eventual building of the thru tracks. If new heads all bulb locations at present should have red lens to prevent any possible false clear indications !!
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Signal heads that are not in service are usually turned sideways and/or covered with what looks like large garbage bags. No chance of anyone seeing any signal indication.
 
There will be signal head(s) at the end of track. In fact remember them as single red stop pot signal. If those stay with no new ones then that is that. Need someone to observe what is the situation. If someone goes to the lounge and is transported to train by golf cart they should pass right by the end of track signals.
 
Saw this via Pacific Surfliner's IG, reposting official details from their Web site:

Reservations Required on Pacific Surfliner trains for those traveling to or from LA Union Station:
Tuesday, December 26 – Friday, December 29

The service updates are outlined below:
  • For all 700 series trains:
    • Shuttle bus connections will be provided to and from LA Union Station from the Glendale Station.
  • For 500 series trains:
    • Shuttle bus connections will be provided to and from LA Union Station from the Fullerton Station for trains 562, 564, 572, 586, 573, 581, 589, and 595.
    • Trains 580 and 591 will be temporarily suspended.
    • Train 587 will be temporarily suspended and replaced by a special train 589, operating one hour later.
Amtrak's Service Alerts notes the following:

  • Coast Starlight passengers heading to/from LAX will pick up a bus at Van Nuys.
  • Southwest Chief passengers heading to/from LAX will pick up a bus at Fullerton.
  • Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle passengers heading to/from LAX will pick up a bus at Ontario, but the Pomona stop will be skipped.
 

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